Friday, September 19, 2014

Bomb hoax at lawyers' anti-Sedition Act meeting

The bomb threat at the Malaysian Bar's extraordinary general meeting against the Sedition Act was found to be a hoax.

The police, after scanning the premises with a canine unit for about an hour, found the premises free of any explosives.
Earlier, lawyer Edmund Bon, who is being investigated for sedition, said
that an anonymous phone call was received, warning of a bomb in Wisma
MCA, Kuala Lumpur.

"Police (are) scouting. We will continue," tweeted Bon.

Human rights lawyer Eric Paulsen had also tweeted that the crowd "laughed off" the threat when the announcement was made.

Those present had said that there are about 1,000 lawyers in the hall at the moment, who make up more than the quorum.

Despite the threat, the EGM continued with the motions and the voting process.

The Bar passed a motion to organise a peaceful protest
against the recent spate of arrests under the Act, which saw
politicians, activists and a law lecturer being charged for making
allegedly seditious remarks.

According to Bon, the motion was carried with 701 voting in favour, while 13 against.

In immediate reaction, former de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim said that the decision made him proud to be a lawyer.

Bar vows sedition protest march sooner than later

Leong
speaking to the media at the press conference following the
Extraordinary General Meeting in Kuala Lumpur today. - The Malaysian
Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, September 19, 2014.

A
peaceful walk by lawyers to protest the Sedition Act will take place
soon, following the overwhelming approval by members of the the
Malaysian Bar Council of a resolution to repeal the law, its chairman
Christopher Leong said.
"A deadline of three or six months is too long. The walk will happen
soon," he told reporters after chairing the Bar's EGM at Wisma MCA in
Jalan Ampang today.
Leong said the council needed to look into logistics like venue and time to enforce the resolution.
This will be the third walk organised in the last seven years.
Leong said that 973 members voted in favour of the motion to repeal the law and for the council to hold the walk."Only 13 voted against it while no one abstained," he said, adding that the turnout at the EGM was very strong.

He said this reflected members' sentiment on the use or abuse of the law by the government against members of the public.
Leong said the Bar was against the use of the law because "you cannot
stop discussion, debate and criticism as these are integral part of a
thinking and maturing process".
He said there must be public discourse for mutual understanding and lasting harmony.

"We cannot walk on egg shells with draconian laws hanging over our head.
"The way forward is to engage like debating, discussion and even making an argument," he added.
He said that was the reason the council had started a campaign to get the law repealed apart from organising the walk.
He said the Bar was also against jail terms imposed by the courts on those found guilty of sedition."The custodial sentence of 12 months jail today on Adam Adli Abdul Halim is wholly disproportionate with the offence," he said.

Leong said the government had promised to abolish the Sedition Act in
July 2012 and the council was hopeful the legislation would be removed
from the statute books soon.
"We expected a replacement Act to be ready at the year end but now we
are told it will be next year. Too much time has passed but we are
prepared to wait," he said.
Leong also clarified that the council was not involved in the drafting of the National Harmony Bill.
"It is a Bill from the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) and
we were only asked by its law and policy sub-committee to assist in the
drafting because they did not have the resource," he said.
Leong said the contents of the Bill reflected the views of the NUCC.
"We also did not circulate the Bill or place the draft on our website
and any accusation against the Bar is unfounded," he said.
Leong said the draft could be accessed at the NUCC website.
Retired chief justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad was among those who
claimed that the Bill was drafted by the council and should not be
accepted. – September 19, 2014. - See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/bar-promises-anti-sedition-law-protest-march-will-take-place-soon#sthash.2DVoLFei.dpuf

Lawyers to march against Sedition Act

The Malaysian Bar has passed a motion to organise a peaceful protest against the recent spate of arrests under the Sedition Act.

Proposed by the Bar Council, it was passed after debate during the Bar's extraordinary general meeting at Wisma MCA today.

The motion was triggered by the flurry of arrests under the Act, which
saw politicians, activists and a law lecturer being charged for making
allegedly seditious remarks.

Bar Council president Christopher Leong (right) said that the motion was passed with an overwhelming vote of 701 to 13.

He also commended the high turnout of 986 members today, he said.

"The Malaysian Bar mandates the Bar Council to immediately organise a peaceful protest in the form of a walk," Leong said.

He said that the logistics of the march, including the date and venue,
has not been set but waiting “three to six months” would be "too long".

He also vowed that the walk will not be a “one-off” action in the Bar’s campaign against the Act.

"Our #MansuhAktaHasutan campaign launched on Sept 4 will be a fluid and ongoing campaign," he said.

Moratorium

The Bar had also resolved to condemn the Sedition Act and called the government to abide by its pledge to repeal the Act.

It
also urged a moratorium on the use of the Act, and for the proposed
National Harmony Act not to be a "recast of the Sedition Act".

"The Malaysian Bar is against the use and abuse of the Sedition Act
because it is of the view that you cannot stop discussion, debate or
criticism as they are all integral parts of the thinking and maturing
process," he said.

The 'Walk for Justice'
was held in 2007 where 2,000 lawyers marched 3.5km to the Prime
Minister's Department in Putrajaya demanding that a royal commission of
inquiry be established to stem the slide in the judiciary.

The march succeeded in compelling then-prime minister Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi to set up a royal commission of inquiry into the infamous Lingam
Tape on appointment of judges.

Meanwhile in Batu Pahat, PAS in its general assembly also passed a motion urging the abolition of the Sedition Act.

Earlier, Mariam Abdul Rashid, the mother-in-law of Muhammad Safwan Anang (right) who was sentenced to 10 months' jail for sedition, made the case to delegates against the colonial-era law.

"We are convinced that more will be arrested and none can escape from BN's abuse of the Sedition Act," she said.

Safwan was given the sentence for remarks made about the last general
election, which the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court found to be seditious.

Among other related motions passed at the muktamar today, which was
proposed by PAS Muslimat and PAS central committee, is a moratorium on
the Sedition Act and the halt of all charges under the law.

The Islamic party also wants a guarantee from Putrajaya that any
replacement law for the Sedition Act, as is being mooted by the
government, will not be draconian or worse.

Excessive sentence

On a related matter, Bar Council president Leong condemned the "excessive" and "disproportionate" sentence of former student leader Adam Adli Abdul Halim for sedition.

"Since it is a first offence, at best, it should have been a fine," he said.

The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today sentenced Adam Adli (left) to 12 months’ jail for urging the toppling of the Umno/BN government, at the same forum as Safwan last year.

On the National Harmony Bill draft, Leong stressed that the Bar had only
assisted the National Unity Consultative Council upon the request of
NUCC’s law and reform and policy committee.

"We worked with them to draft the contents of the bill and as such, the
bill reflects the view of NUCC. We only provided our experience and
resources," he said.

He denied that the Bar had circulated the drafts, but said that the
provisions "would go a long way to promoting true and meaningful
harmony, unity and mutual respect among Malaysians".

The National Harmony Act is said to be the replacement for the Sedition Act.

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